April 22, 2006 Earth Day at Pine Gully
We were able to Get Help from the Seabrook Volunteer Fire Derpertment .
They came in force and Brought the Fire Boat.
to supply abundant free Bay water. and Two Fire Trucks... On was on
standby should there be a Fire. The other provided three
hoses to Blast a trench through the Sand Plug and open a Channel to the
Bay
At around 9:30 we got the hoses going
We are working the Delta Area below the Cemetary
There is also some action at the top of the Plug
A 2 foot wide trench from the North fork area toward the
continental divide.. We are failing to push the water up hill.
Another view of the Uphill problem, see the water spilling out of the
trench and flowing back
Trench is being Deepened by using the Water Canon.. still some flow
back!
Trench is now about 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep
Powerful water blasting is used to cut our way through the Continental
divide
.
We have finally cut through the divide and there is a clear
downslope flow . No Flow Back!
Here we are increasing the channel down hill
Back up at the northfork the channel is widened by Chief Ray Cook and
volunteer Gully Washers
The final assault begins from the
Upstream Pond... This first attempt has a backwash problem ..
Later we were able to Establish about 30 GPM Unassisted flow from the
Pond to the Bay.
It lasted until sometime on Sunday.
The Equipment Used
The Fireboat sucked Water from the bay and sent it through the big
Yellow hose about a Half a mile to the culvert outside the park.
The pumper on the right boosted the pressure and sent it through the
red hose... Past the footbridge
Once under the foot bridge the Big Red hose was split into three
smaller Hoses
This is the three way splitter. The two red hoses had splitters on the
end to feed two hoses each.
This is the water canon. It had a very powerful stream that we
ultimately
used to break through the continental divide.
The Kids had Fun Too
Our Deepest thanks to the Seabrook Volunteer Firemen
who came out in Force. They were Essential.
Pine Gully Sand Plug
removal results
6
foot
deep
plug
<------------1000 foot Visible Plug ---------------->
< ---------------------------------- 1500 foot long
plug
----------------------------------->
Note: The scale of the drawing is compressed in the
Horizontal scale.
Water would be flowing from the left, Upstream in the Gully, to the
Bay on the right.
The Sand Plug prevents the normal flow.
The Normal bottom of the gully is about 2-3 feet below sea level.
The Bay is shown at sea level on the right.
The Water in the Gully, left, is at about 2 feet above sea level.
The top of the Sand Plug is about 3 feet above sea level. (Or 5-6 feet
above the normal gully bottom).
The distance from the bay to the top of the plug is about 400 feet.
Then from the top of the plug back to the trapped water is 600
feet.
Thats 1000 feet of plug showing above water.
There is perhaps another 500 feet including the Submerged up stream.
The dashed line depicts the trench that was dug on Earth Day, April 22,
2006.
This was accomplished by about 40 volunteers with strong support from
the
Seabrook Volunteer Fire Department. Photos above show the
Trenching Operation.
At about 3:30 PM water was flowing unaided from the Gully to the Bay.
The water depth was about 2 inches in a 2 foot wide trench.
Water continued to flow during April 23. As the water level above the
plug dropped
the flow was reduced to a trickle. By Monday 24 it had stopped
altogether.
The total drop in water level above the Plug was about 1 inch.
The somewhat successful January dig suggested that a
Robust flow would cut its own channel to the Bay.
It appears that this Plug is Much Larger than it was in January.
The Gap in the dashed trench line shows the 30 foot long dry segment of
the Trench.
Heavy rains are expected Tuesday, they could re establish flow in the
trench.
It will take a very large rainfall in less than a day to be an
effective Gully Washer.
Pray for Rain!